Over the years of owning a Weber Kettle grill, I’ve heard of a number of different accessories. The one I’ve heard about the most is the Slow N’ Sear.
I figured after all these years, I’d see what the fuss was about and buy one to test and review.
Original Date of this Review: 2/11/2022.
Jump to Sections of This Review:
- What Dylan Likes About the Slow N’ Sear
- Is it absolutely necessary?
- Update after using it for nearly 2 years
What Dylan likes About the Slow N’ Sear
Put simply: The Slow N’ Sear makes using a Kettle grill easier to use in just about every way.
Traditionally, the way to use a charcoal kettle grill is to create a two-zone fire.
The fire arrangement looks like this:
In this scenario we have a cool/indirect, convection zone on the left and a hot/direct, radiant zone on the right.
Here’s a better diagram to visualize how the heat interacts with our meat:
The above is absolutely fine to do – it has worked well for me for over a decade and I still do so to this day when I’m grilling something simple like hamburgers or hot dogs.
However, smoking on a kettle grill can be a hassle.
The two most common methods that people use are:
- The Minion Method
- The Charcoal Snake
Assume you’re smoking a brisket; They typically take 1.25-1.5 hours per pound of meat – so 12.5+ hours for a 10 lb brisket.
A whole charcoal snake isn’t going to last this long. Requiring you to take the meat off the grill, take the grill grates out, and then setup a new snake.
With the Slow N’ Sear, you can simply dump the charcoal into the basket and call it good. You bank unlit charcoal to one side and have a few lit coals on the other (the basis of the minion method).
Which would you rather do?
Even lighting the charcoal is easier.
I simply grab my small butane torch, grab a firelighter or a piece of cardboard from my recycling and light one end.
I then wait 15 minutes for the coals to ash over, cover the lid, and walk away.
Meaning, I don’t have to take my chimney out, firelighter, etc. I just do everything inside the Slow N’ Sear.
The same could be said for adding water to the water pan, or adding a new wood chunk to the fire – all of these things are just more easily done with the Slow N’ Sear.
Where-as with a charcoal snake you have to move the meat or if you didn’t add enough wood chunks you have to take the grates off.
I will say, don’t expect the world in terms of adding hours to cook time.
In my experience a full charcoal basket in a SNS at 250F lasts around 5-8 hours – about the same as the charcoal snake.
Slow N’ Sear says in their description: 8+ hours uninterrupted; Which I could see happening.
While these things may feel small in the grand scheme of things, they just make the experience that much easier.
I know beginners can tend to panic when smoking meat and in my opinion, the Slow N’ Sear further dumbs everything down.
I have owned a number of products for Barbecue and can just tell the Slow N’ Sear will last a lifetime; It’s made of 7+ lbs of 16-gauge 430 stainless steel, the welds are clean, and the rivets are securely fastened.
Overall, the Slow N’ Sear is a wonderful product and truly impressed me.
With ALL that Said, is the Slow N’ Sear Necessary?
Absolutely not.
To be honest, if you’re someone who is just grilling hamburgers, hot dogs, and steak, I personally wouldn’t buy it.
I’ve owned and used a Weber kettle for over half my life.
No joke, my previous Weber kettle was so old it didn’t have a heat deflector on the handle, a thermometer on the lid, a lid holder, etc.
Before I replaced my Weber kettle with one of the newer iterations, I simply used the methods above, without fail.
However, if you’re into smoking meat – I’d definitely invest in one.
If you never foresee yourself getting into smoking meat, I’d never buy one.
Update After Using the Slow N’ Sear for 671 Days
Almost all my articles on this site in the past 671 days have used the Slow N’ Sear.
I can confidently say that the Slow N’ Sear is my favorite accessory that I own for the Weber Kettle and I use it almost every time I use the Weber Kettle.
As I originally said above, it simply makes the Weber Kettle easier to use:
- It makes adding charcoal easier – both unlit and lit.
- It makes the addition of a water pan easier – you simply pour liquid into the trough without the need for an aluminum pan.
- The welds and rivets are still securely fastened.
While my Slow N’ Sear obviously shows signs of use after nearly 2 years of use, it still works like the day I bought it and shows no signs of breaking.
Is it still expensive? Unfortunately yes.
Can something like Char-baskets work instead? For sure.
I still find them to be harder to use in comparison.
I know because my best Friend bought them instead and regrets it.
Some of his and my comments on the baskets:
- For longer cooks, even with two connected baskets, we find you have to take the grill grates off still to reload charcoal.
- If your Kettle spikes in temperature, it’s far easier to remove charcoal from the Slow N’ Sear than it is the char baskets.
- If you want to incorporate a water pan, you’d have to do so separately.
- For shorter cooks they work great – granted, I’d even just opt to not use them for a shorter cook.
- The char-baskets just feel flimsy – they’re also 1/4 of the cost so you get what you pay for.
To Me, the Slow N’ Sear just feels like it’s part of the kettle as apposed to being an accessory. I’ll likely continue to use it for the rest of my life.
